Dream crushed as 'no one wants to hire a foreigner'

Stuart Cumming
Reporter
Stuart studied journalism at the University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba. He worked briefly at Central Queensland News and Warwick Daily News. He has worked as a reporter at The Chronicle since July 2009.

MIGRANT Suzan Aliny has abandoned her Coast dream and is moving her family across Australia after struggling to find work.

"The reason why I tell my story is to inform the public of the silent suffering of immigrants who paid a lot of money to get an Australian visa only to find that there are jobs but no one wants to hire a foreigner," Mrs Aliny said.

A lack of acceptance, being taken advantage of and being overlooked for jobs despite extensive previous experience left her frustrated.

She and her husband Rafic arrived on the Sunshine Coast with their children Robin, 8 and Dora, 5, about five months ago.

Originally from Egypt, they had been living and working in Dubai for six years before their move.

Mrs Aliny had 13 years of work experience as a pharmacist technician, her husband 18 years as a software engineer.

The lure of more regular contact with a Mrs Aliny's brother, who had already moved to Australia, motivated them to come over.

Excellent, affordable education was another drawcard.

"Our plan was to move to a beautiful country where we can spend the rest of our lives with our beautiful kids," Mrs Aliny said.

"You can only live in Dubai during your working life so we were looking for a place where we could work and retire so our family wouldn't have to return to Egypt when we stop working."

They went through a year-long visa application process, paying for English exams and other parts of the process before a final $7000 bill.

Their 489 visa allowed them, as skilled migrants, to live and work in a regional area.

"They didn't accept us easily."

Robin and Dora were enrolled at Our Lady of the Rosary in Caloundra while Mrs Aliny and her husband set about finding work.

She had been told by immigration officers that her skills were sought after.

But after two months of constant trying, Rafic had to return to Dubai to earn some money.

Mrs Aliny said she had been to "nearly every" pharmacy on the Coast, applied online and done all she could to find work.

She said pharmacy jobs she applied for remained unfilled for months after she had been knocked back.

"They said they didn't find anyone with experience."

She searched for all kinds of work, getting a job as a cleaner.

But after working 12 hours doing a bond clean, the employer told her she did not have enough experience and would not be paying her for the hours.

In the meantime, Mrs Aliny said her children had been fitting in well at school, despite missing their father.

She said she volunteered for her church and school to become a part of the community.

The lack of work has driven her to take a job offer from a friend in Western Australia at a pharmacy in Collie.

They will leave on Friday.

She is not sure how much longer her family will remain in Australia.

"I will have to move alone with my kids... and that is extremely hard.

"My children are very sad to leave their school already.

"I miss my husband and we both cry when we talk to each other.

"We even regret our move to Australia which has cost us a lot of money but the worst thing is that our family is torn apart."